TOSH Top 25 – #23 Jensen and Ellis deliver the sprint triple

Editor’s Note – The TOSH Top 25 is our countdown of the top 25 stories from the 2016-2017 school sports year, beginning with No. 25 and counting down, one story a day, to No. 1. The 2016-2017 high school sports year was filled with big performances, both team and individual. The act of narrowing down our initial list of top stories for our TOSH Top 25 stories of the year to just 25 was a difficult task. We asked people all over the state for input into our final list and beginning July 5, we are counting them down in reverse, from story No. 25 to story No. 1. Hopefully your favorite story of the past school year made our list.

Today, we announce No. 23 and celebrate a pair of sprinters who put on a great show during the state track and field championships – Brinn Jensen of Skyridge and Lone Peak’s Emily Ellis.

Emily Ellis of Long Peak swept the Class 5A 100, 200 and 400 at the state track championships. (Photo by Kurt Johnson)

#23 – Jensen and Ellis own the sprints

There is a big difference between the 100 and 400-meter runs in track and field, and it is not easy for athletes to dominate at both distances. One of the most entertaining shows at the 2017 state track and field championships, therefore, came in watching a pair of girls sweep the sprint triple.

Skyridge senior Brinn Jensen and Lone Peak junior Emily Ellis were clearly cheering for each other as each took her turns breaking the tape on the track and Brigham Young University. Jensen, running for the first-year school in Lehi, went first, winning the Class 4A 100-meter in 12.41 seconds. Ellis and the 5A girls were next up on the track, and the junior delivered a first-place finish in 12.30.

A short time later, the two were back on the track again, with Jensen capturing the 4A 400 in 55.95 prior to Ellis taking the 5A 400 in 54.80. The endurance component of the longest sprint did not seem to bother either runner as each dominated her longest sprint.

Brinn Jensen of Skyridge is the 100, 200 and 400-meter 4A state champion. (Photo by Kurt Johnson)

The 200 was the final sprint event of the day, as Jensen won the 4A race in 24.64 while Ellis took the tape ahead of the 5A field in 24.58. Seeing the same runners best the field at all three distances was fun enough, but to see the two rivals cheering for each other all along the way made it an extra-special day at the state track meet, and that’s part of the reason this is story No. 23 in our TOSH Top 25 stories of the 2016-2017 school sports year.